Eddie Alvarez

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career and BodogFIGHT
3 ProElite and DREAM
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Eddie Alvarez (born January 11, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist who fights out of the Fight Factory.

He stands 5 ft. 8 in. (173 cm) tall and fights in the lightweight division.

He was a semi-finalist of the 2008 DREAM lightweight tournament and was the former BodogFIGHT welterweight champion. He is currently signed to fight in DREAM as well as Bellator Fighting Championships.

Early Career and BodogFIGHT

Eddie Alvarez made his professional mixed martial arts debut on December 14, 2003 for the Ring of Combat organization. He KO'd his opponent, Antony Ladonna at 3.57 of round 1.

Alvarez went undefeated throughout 2004 and 2005, pushing his record up to 6-0 with all results being finishes within the distance.

On June 3rd, 2006, Alvarez faced off against UFC veteran, Derrick Noble who was coming off a TKO loss to Thiago Alves at UFC 59. The fight took place under the MFC banner and was for the promotion's welterweight title. Alvarez quickly secured victory and the title with a KO in just 1:01.

After another quick KO in a smaller promotion, Alvarez's MFC contract was transferred over to the BodogFIGHT organization, thus making Alvarez the new BodogFIGHT welterweight champion. In the first defense of his title, he faced another UFC veteran in Aaron Riley at BodogFIGHT: USA vs. Russia on December 2, 2006. Another quick KO was on the cards for Alvarez as he dispatched Riley in just 1:05.

Alvarez's next defense came a little over two months later, at BodogFIGHT: Costa Rica Combat where he scored a TKO over Scott Henze at 4.13 of round 1.

Just under two months later, Alvarez suffered the first professional defeat of his career as he was TKO'd by a much larger, Nick Thompson. Alvarez had long been considered very undersized for the division and the way he was muscled around by Thompson in the fight gave creedence to those claims.

Alvarez bounced back from the loss to Thompson with a decision victory over Matt Lee at the next BodogFIGHT event three months later.

ProElite and DREAM

Alvarez opted out of his renewing his contract with the quickly failing BodogFIGHT organization, instead deciding to a sign a number of non-exclusive contracts with ProElite, Japanese promotion, DREAM and originally M-1 Global which was headed up by his manager, Monte Cox.

Alvarez made his debut under the ProElite banner, on a ShowXC event held on January 25, 2008. He faced Ross Ebanez in ShowXC's lightweight division (160 lbs.). It was Alvarez's first fight at the weight class and he did not disappoint, defeating Ebanez via TKO in the second round.

Shortly after his ShowXC debut, Alvarez signed to compete in DREAM's inaugural event in their 16-man 154 lbs. lightweight tournament.

At DREAM 1 he faced Andre Amada, a K-1 Heroes regular in the opening round of the tournament. In a tough battle, Alvarez eventually came out on top when he stopped Amada with punches from mount 6:47 into round 1.

The quarter finals for the tournament took place at DREAM 3 on May 11, 2008. Alvarez faced off against PRIDE veteran, Joachim Hansen and was considered the underdog. In a fight of the year candidate, Alvarez took it to Hansen in the opening 10 minutes, dropping Hansen twice with hard shots. In the second round, Hansen fought back when he secured a takedown and started to have his way with Hansen on the ground. Alvarez looked in danger and was nearly finished by an extremely close armbar but managed to pull out of it and return to his feet. The two traded strikes until the final bell, with Alvarez staggering Hansen with a headkick at the final bell. Alvarez was awarded the unanimous decision victory and a spot in the lightweight tournamnet semi finals.

The lightweight finals were set for DREAM 5 which would take place on July 21, 2008. Hansen was matched up against Tatsuya Kawajiri while Shinya Aoki and Caol Uno would take the other two spots in the semis. Kawajiri, a PRIDE veteran with heavy hands and great wrestling, dropped Alvarez early in the fight and messed up his face with the doctors having to check on Alvarez to make sure he could continue. Alvarez waded through the punishment being dealt to him by "The Crusher" before landing his own knockout blow that ended the contest and earned him a spot in the final. This fight was also considered by many to be the fight of the year.

Alvarez was unable to continue in the tournament to face Shinya Aoki however, as the damage to the face he sustained in his semi final bout stopped him from fighting again that night. He was instead replaced by the man he beat in the quarter finals, Joachim Hansen who went on to stop Aoki in the first round and become the DREAM lightweight champion.

Alvarez's stock rose high after the tournament with many MMA blogs ranking Alvarez as high as number 2 in the world in the lightweight division. ProElite set up a fight between Alvarez and UFC veteran, Nick Diaz for the vacant EliteXC lightweight title in November of 2008. However, the fight was cancelled when the whole show was cancelled due to ProElite going under.

On New Year's Eve, Alvarez returned to Japan to compete in the traditional extravagant New Year's show, entitled, K-1 Dynamite!! - Power of Courage 2008. Alvarez faced off against the man he was meant to face in the lightweight finals, Shinya Aoki. Alvarez's five fight win streak was snapped quickly however by Aoki when he was submitted with a heel hook just 1:32 into the first round.